


if the stars come crashing (or, what happened later)

by Spoofymcgee



Series: sunrise, sunset [8]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Also yes, CT-5285 | Tup Lives, CT-6116 | Kix is So Done, CT-7567 | Rex Needs a Hug, Chancellor Padmé Amidala, Clones, Dogma (Star Wars) Deserved Better, Domestic Fluff, Domino Squad Lives (Star Wars), Everyone Is Alive, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Love, Politics, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Protective Padmé Amidala, Squabbling, Victory, also some painkillers, and he fucking gets it, and he fucking gets one, bacta can only do so much, but padme and anakin are ready with the painkillers, cept palps but what do you expect, gummies, is it technically illegal to drug your superior officer?, legal disclaimer: i fucking hate that guy, so everyone's a little injured, thank you very much, this is set directly after the stars will set my path, will kix do it anyway?, winning, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27488575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoofymcgee/pseuds/Spoofymcgee
Summary: "How much painkiller are you on?""None!" he protests, exactly as, from his position on the ceiling, in Jesse's lap, Kix calls: "Fifteen hundred milligrams. I spiked his juice with them,""That's a bit much, isn't it?" Anakin asks, brows furrowed, holding back a giggle at Rex's look of pure outraged betrayal."His goddamn ribs again, I swear," Kix groans, melting into Jesse's hands as they bleed the tension from his shoulders. "Karking Seps and their karking snake droids."
Relationships: 501st Legion & Anakin Skywalker, All Of The Clones & Anakin Skywalker, All Of The Clones & Padmé Amidala, CT-4040 | Cutup/CT-00-2010 | Droidbait/CT-21-0408 | Echo/CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555/CT-782 | Hevy, CT-7567 | Rex/Anakin Skywalker, Dogma/CT-5385 | Tup, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/CT-7567 | Rex/Anakin Skywalker
Series: sunrise, sunset [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927888
Comments: 7
Kudos: 119





	if the stars come crashing (or, what happened later)

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry, i'm sorry!!  
> the follow up to when the smoke clears is coming soon, i promise.  
> the election fried my brain for a solid week and a half, i couldn't get anything done.  
> i did, however, write this fluff intermission while waiting on the speeches, so here you go.  
>  credit to Armcannos for the brilliant suggestion of more Anakin corrupting Dogma. he's a bit more grumpy and a little less, I will do this because he's my superior officer, but hey.

The hall is full of screams.   
He can hear them from here. The cool breeze ghosts over his whitened knuckles where they rise and fall about his tight grip on the balcony's edge.   
It's too loud, too chaotic, to know who's shouting, and why.   
He breathes in, once.  
"Ani!" someone shouts from behind. He turns, and nearly falls over the edge as Padmé barrels into his arms.   
He closes them reflexively around her, absently noting her dishevelment; glowing face framed by loose, dark strands, heavy cloak clinging to her shoulder by one clasp, cheek smudged with blue paint.  
"We won!" she's saying, pulling him tight against her. "Ani, we won!"  
"We did?" he asks dumbly, and then it registers. " _Oh._ "  
" _Oh,_ " Padmé mimicks, pulling back to poke him in the chest. "Well, what are you waiting for? C'mon."  
She steps back and sets off down the hall at a quick clip. He wastes a moment wondering if it's always been this hard to breathe, and then follows.

The doors open, and Padmé pulls to a sudden halt, scanning the room, eyes narrowed.   
"Aha," she says, triumphantly, and dives into the crowd. He follows behind her, spilling token protests as they turn to him, nudges and smiles and tears and greetings of _'Vod,'_ that jointly break his heart and weld it back together.  
It takes him a few minutes longer to find Padmé again in the crowd, and he laughs wetly when he does.  
He's crying, and doesn't know how long he has been. Maybe since outside. She grins back at him, then launches herself at Rex, careful of his bruises and bones, to bury her face in his shoulder. He holds her, tears pattering down onto her hair.   
It's loud. There's music pumping somewhere, some kind of Core dance music. He watches couples swing each other around, dip and laugh at random intervals around the room.   
Padmé meets his eyes, and pulls away, murmuring something. Rex turns, confused, stitches zigzagging down his cheek, and little gods, he's just so _pretty_. Anakin goes weak at the knees. He steps forward, and grips Rex like he's drowning. Maybe he is. Maybe they all are, but damn him if his chest has ever felt any lighter. 

There are arguments, of course. The receptionist of Ryo Events is an old friend of Fives, and his eyes light up like firecrackers when Anakin drops away from his position by Rex's side, to whisper an idea to him.   
"Hey Dogma," he calls, beckoning with a hand. "I need your help with something."  
"Sir?" Dogma asks warily, walking over, fingers threaded with Tup's.  
Upon seeing the way Fives' eyes glow, he tries to backpedal, shaking his head.  
"No. Nope! Whatever it is, the answer is absolutely not,"  
"Aw, c'mon Dogma," Tup says from behind him, wrapping both arms around his torso.  
"I said _no,_ " he mutters petulantly, dropping back against Tup at the persuasion of gentle kisses to the crown of his head.   
"If you really don't want to," Anakin trails off, eyes going big and shiny with what he _knows_ are fake tears, bottom lip trembling.   
"I will _kick_ you," Dogma swears, shedding his Tup and stomping over, sporting a dour glare. "I'm going to get arrested again, aren't I? And they won't let me out this time, and I'll miss Matchstick's wedding, and then he'll kill me because I'm responsible for last minute tailoring and it'll be _all_ your fault,"  
Anakin grins brightly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

Mas Amedda gives his concession speech the next day, at Ryo Speeder Repairs. Several interns are berated in succession in search of whoever managed to mix up the event venue with a junkyard. He trips over an exhaust pipe and faceplants into an old pile of chairs that a family of gokobs had, unfortunately for him, made their home. The generally friendly rodents did not take kindly to having their house crushed, and attacked in a fury. The reporter catching this on film is verbally threatened, and as on, about half the holonet steps forward to laud and protect them.   
The scratches stand out, bright red, against his cerulean skin. 

Several districts away, Anakin hides his laugh in Rex's shoulder, burying his face away from Padmé's accusing gaze.  
"It wasn't me!" he squawks, careful to keep his protesting flailing away from the cast stiffening Rex's leg.   
"Oh yes it was," Dogma disagrees sulkily from the armchair, cold pack pressed to the bruises on his head. Tup shifts in his lap, twisting enough to pat him consolingly on the cheek.  
"Aniiiiiiii," Padmé groans, letting her head fall back into Rex's shoulder.  
"Sorry, your Excellency," he says, and laughs when she growls and lunges across Rex.  
"Mmm," Rex hums, gently nudging her back and pulling Anakin half onto his lap in order to somewhat awkwardly wrap both arms around his torso and then less awkwardly begin carding a hand through his hair. Both of them give him a bemused look.  
"Having fun?" Padmé asks, one eyebrow raised.  
"I like your hair long," Rex informs him. "It makes you look pretty."   
Anakin flips onto his back and stares up at him, nonplussed. The corner of Padmé's mouth twitches.  
"How much painkiller are you on?"  
"None!" he protests, exactly as, from his position on the ceiling, in Jesse's lap, Kix calls: "Fifteen hundred milligrams. I spiked his juice with them,"  
"That's a bit much, isn't it?" Anakin asks, brows furrowed, holding back a giggle at Rex's look of pure outraged betrayal.   
"His goddamn ribs again, I swear," Kix groans, melting into Jesse's hands as they bleed the tension from his shoulders. "Karking Seps and their karking snake droids."  
"Aren't those-" Padmé starts.  
"Yes," he cuts her off. "And then they renovated them, because why have a clanker that rolls and shoots when you can have one that slithers and can crush a ribcage through plastoid while biting of it's victim's head?"  
"This is gold," someone mutters from the armchair piled with Dominoes. Anakin's head snaps towards them, and Fives has about three point seven seconds to realize his mistake before the rest jump him.   
"Thank you," Padmé says, plucking the 'recorder out of his pinned arm, scrolling a little, and then pressing the delete button several times.  
"You're not gonna remember this, are you captain?" Dogma asks, something as soon to mischief as Dogma's ever gotten flashing across his face.   
"Probably not," Rex agrees unconcernedly.  
"So I can do this,"  
Dogma gently pulls Tup's hands out of his lengthening curls, twists in his lap and soundly kisses him.   
Anakin bends over to fish a bag of gummy droids out from under the sofa and toss it to Padmé.   
"You win," he grumbles. "C'mon Dogma, I was _so_ sure you had something going on with Monnk."   
Dogma treats him to a saucy little grin, then goes back to giving Tup's lips the attention they deserve. In the background, someone hands Amedda a cold pack, which he presses to the scratches, stepping back to make way for a spokesman.  
Anakin gives a scandalized gasp, and reaches over to grab at the candy. Padmé gives him a look, and he subsides, settling back onto Rex, still muttering.  
She fishes around for a few seconds, before pulling out a gummy made in the likeness of the new 5NEK model droids. She gives it a harsh glare, and then viciously tears it's head of in a flash of perfect teeth.  
"... _What._ " Rex says, still staring.   
Anakin grins. _This,_ he realizes, _this is where I belong._

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact; snake droids are a thing. hutts used to use them to guard treasure. there's like, three sentences on them, but they do in fact exist. 
> 
> hope you have a great day!!


End file.
